Nature versus Nurture – Should We Give Synthetic Ingredients a Break?

In an article published in September 2020, Forbes highlighted a study by Bionsen, which suggested that women are exposed to 515 synthetic ingredients from their daily skin care and makeup routine, before saying that “what we don’t know can hurt us”.

Yet if that’s the case, how then can we make sense of a University of Ferrara study that showed that over 56% of people using herbal creams on their skin had negative reactions? (Corazza M et al., Use of Topical Herbal Remedies).

Going beyond the greenwashing, the truth is that natural isn’t a guarantee of safety, and synthetic isn’t a guarantee of danger.

When Medeau creates its perfumes, it examines the research underlying every single ingredient, using resources such as the Environmental Working Group, and available academic research. What we’re looking for is long-term, broad-based confirmation that these ingredients don’t lead to harm, whether in small or large concentrations.

Where we can, we also seek to minimize our environmental impact, and sometimes this means choosing ingredients which have been created, instead of being found in nature, to minimize deforestation and water use.

Did you know? The research that went into Medeau’s “green list” ingredients which gave birth to Origin took over six months. Our green list database now includes over 1,000 ingredients with supporting lab research.

In short – while we don’t all have the time or the means to research each ingredient in the products we use, we can choose products made by those that we trust to do the research on our behalf. It’s one of Medeau’s core values to do just that, so you can feel confident that your perfume is as good for you as it is for the planet.